The Choice
by PrettyMistakes
Summary: If you were given the choice between letting your worst enemy hurt your female friend or hurting your best friend all by yourself: What would you choose? Rated M for very dark topics, sex, strong language and mental issues.
1. The Ultimatum

So... this is gonna be dark. VERY dark. I have warned you now. This is only the prologue, the upcoming chapters will be longer than this... hopefully. So Please R&R - and I hope you'll like this story. :)

* * *

While looking out between the bars he had pressed himself up against the wall in one corner of the cell. He wasn't exactly scared, he rarely was. Nervous. That was the more exact word for it. He took a quick look at Casey, who had April curled up against him, her head was pressed against his chest. The two friends exchanged looks, thinking the same thing.

"When will they be here?" Casey moved his head a little, the sweat was dripping from his forehead.

"I think Donnie is right," Raphael replied, ignoring Casey's comment.

"About what?"

"You really don't like enclosed areas, do you?"

"Oh, shut up, Raph." He seemed impatient. On the other hand Casey wasn't the patient type, but then again: He had never been captured before.

"Don't worry," Raphael said, holding his head up against the cold wall. "They'll find us soon. They've saved me so many times, and they're usually pretty good at tracking me down." It was hard to admit, but it was the truth. Raphael had always been the one of the four brothers, who always got into trouble, and he knew it very well.

Footsteps approached. A sharp sound went through the dungeon, like someone was holding a knife and slicing it over the surface of a stone wall. That's when Raphael realized that was exactly what it was. Shredder was standing behind the bars, looking at his three hostages. And he had a knife in his hand. His quickly pointed to the cell. Eight foot soldiers got closer to the cell and opened the door. Raphael looked evenly as confused as his fellow prisoners, as they all stood up, looking at their enemy.

Would he let them go?

"Get her," Shredder said, pointing at April, whose eyes widened in horror, as two of the foot soldiers drew her away from Casey and out of the prison.

"No!" Casey yelled. Raphael felt the hands of the foot soldiers on his arms. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.

"If you fight against them, she will die!" Shredder yelled. Both Raphael and Casey stopped fighting. They exchanged glances. The risks were too high. Shredder pointed at Raphael.

"You!"

He was pulled closer to the Shredder by three foot soldiers. The door locked behind them. Shredder walked back and forth while looking at the two chosen prisoners.

"I know how close you all are. Believe me; I've been watching all of you for a long time now." He starred back into the cell, where Casey was sitting alone.

"I thought about killing you," Shredder continued, while he walked from April to Raphael. "But that will not be as much fun as watching you destroy your own unity, all by yourself." He walked closer to Raphael, looking him in the eye.

"Now, I will give you an ultimatum."

"You can't force me into anything, you bastard!" Raphael said angrily. A fist was thrown against his chin, making April scream in shock. Shredder placed his hands around Raphael's throat, holding the knife close to his head.

"Either I will rape her…" He pointed at April. "…Or I will force you to be with her."

"You can't do that!" Casey yelled, grabbing the bars of the cell. Shredder ignored him, before dragging Raphael closer to him and whispering him in the ear.

"It's your choice… _Raphael_."


	2. The Choice

Raphael starred at Shredder in disbelief.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he said.

"It's your choice. And the clock is ticking!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" April asked terrified.

"If you don't choose soon, I'll torture your friend!" He pointed to the cell, where Casey was furiously holding his hands on two of the bars.

Raphael looked from April to Casey. He didn't want to hurt either of them, but to him there was only one solution. He could feel his pulse rise, and the nervous feeling turning into angst, as he looked over his shoulder at his upset friend. The solution was hard, and he knew, that Casey never would forgive him for this.

"Fine! I'll do it!" Raphael yelled, looking back at Shredder.

"You'll do _what_?" Shredder asked as he walked closer to the turtle, pointing the knife to his throat.

"I'l... I'll _be_ with April," he stuttered. He looked back at Casey for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Casey," he whispered.

"Good." Shredder seemed satisfied. He made a move with his hand and the foot soldiers started dragging the two chosen prisoners out of the cellar, while they could hear Casey scream in fury in the cell, trying to shake the bars.

"Raphael! No, don't do this! I thought you were my friend!"

* * *

They were pushed into a room in the grey stone building. One lightbulb was hanging from the ceiling and in the middle of the room a bed was placed. A watch was hanging on one of the grey walls. Shredder looked at the two of them.

"You have one hour."

"Is every demand in a freaking time schedule?" Raphael growled.

"If you have not completed the task within one hour, I will kill your friend." Shredder walked to the door before turning around, looking at both of them with his evil glance.

"How is that for a time schedule, freak?"

The door locked.

April crawled up on the bed, far away from Raphael.

"How could you do that?" she asked him. A single tear started rolling down her cheek.

"What do you mean?" Raphael looked at her in confusion.

"How could you choose to be with me?"

"Well, it's not like I had a freaking choice, April."

"You _did_ have a choice, Raphael. It was all yours."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he said sarcastically, frowning at her. "Would you like me to tell Shredder to do the job? Or should he just kill Casey right away?" Even saying the words like that made him sick to his stomach. He sighed.

"I couldn't do it," he said.

"Do what?"

"I couldn't let Shredder hurt you. And I couldn't let him hurt Casey either... So this is something we just have to... do, I guess."

April nodded, whiping her cheek in her longsleeved blouse.

"Shredder really do want us to fight like this, doesn't he?" she admitted. Raphael sat down on the bed next to her. "That's the whole purpose." She looked at him for a moment.

"But I'm not sure I can do this to Casey..."

"Either you do this to Casey, or he dies. You heard Shredder."

April sighed; another tear left its spot in her eye.

"So... How do we do this?" she asked.

"I know you like romance, but I don't think there'll be any of that here. I mean, look at this place," Raphael said, looking around the room.

"Tell me something."

Raphael turned his head to look at her.

"Huh?"

"Tell me something... nice. Something about me and you. Maybe that will help."

Raphael moved closer to her, sitting almost in front of her on the bed.

"Well... I like the way you laugh," he began. He felt stupid. He wasn't good at this kind of stuff. But he continued. "It makes me... feel safe around you." April kept looking at him.

"And I like how kind you are. And it seems like you really care about the people around you. Including me." He moved closer to her. Then he looked down for a moment.

"Actually, at one point I had a bit of a crush on you."

She seemed surprised.

"Really?"

"Yes," he admitted. She took his hand and held on to it for a bit. She removed herself from the spot against the wall and got even closer to him on the bed, looking him straight in the eye.

"Ditto," she said.

" _There's the moment,"_ he thought. And without any more hesitation he leaned his head to one side, moved his lips closer to hers and kissed her. A little shock went through her body, as her eyes closed, while she felt herself kissing back. She had thought about what it would be like to kiss him, but never expected this and how nice it suddenly felt. She placed one hand around his neck, the other one on his arm, and dragged him down in a laying position with her. Raphael began kissing her neck softly, as she felt herself relax more. He drew her into yet another deep kiss, as she ran her hands over the surface of his stomach and down under his shell. Raphael gasped. He had not imagined that this was what it would be like with her. Suddenly a thought went through his mind. He pulled his lips from hers to take a look at her, both of them panting heavily.

"What about birth control?"

"The pill," she replied.

* * *

April put on her blouse as the last piece of clothing. They looked at each other for a moment. Raphael could already feel the guilt whelming up in his stomach. A bit of sweat was still dripping from his forehead, as he sat there against the cold wall. She looked at him for a moment, he was still breathing hard.

"Are you okay?" she looked at him with a concerned look, as she placed one hand on his arm.

"Yes," he panted.

"You're not, Raphael. You're shaking."

"It's fine..."

"You're not fine!" She drew her arms around him, the touch of his cold skin surprised her.

Suddenly the door was smashed open. Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo were standing in the doorway.

"There you are!" Michelangelo said, as he got closer to them. He took April's hand, pulling her up from the bed. "C'mon, we don't have a lot of time. Where's Casey?"

"In the basement," April replied. Donatello sat down in front of Raphael, who was shaking uncontrollably. Donatello took one hand to Raphael's head.

"What's wrong with him?" Leonardo asked concerned.

"I think it might be a panic attack," Donatello answered. "And he has a fever." He drew one arm around Raphael's shoulder, Leonardo held on to Raphael's other side. "C'mon, bro. Let's get you out of here."


	3. The Consequences

Raphael was sitting in the darkness of his room. He had said to his brothers, that he was tired and wanted to sleep. Only, he didn't sleep. He couldn't. He hadn't been able to for the past nights, and it was beginning to show, when he and his brothers were practicing. Splinter had commented on it several times, that he kept losing balance and wasn't as strong and focused as usual. And his father and brothers were obviously wondering, what was going on with him.

None of them knew the truth just yet.

" _I thought you were my friend!"_

Inside his head the entire situation was stuck on repeat. He could still hear Casey shouting at him, as Leonardo had tried holding his friend back from completely attacking him. When Raphael touched his left chin he could still feel the pain of the bruise, where Casey had hit him. On his right chin two scars were still showing where Shredder had punched him. And April had cried.

He felt so bad for her.

Raphael leaned his head up against the wall. Maybe he could sleep for just a little while, if he just really tried...

* * *

"Raph?"

He slowly lifted his eyelids; everything was a haze before his eyes. He could feel that he still was sitting on his own bed.

"Raph?"

He blinked a few times, making his vision more clear. Leonardo was sitting next to him with a worried look upon his face. He had a candle in his hand, which lid up the room.

"Yeah," Raphael replied with a hoarse voice, raising his head a little.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Stop lying to me, Raph. Your eyes are red."

"Damn it, Leo, it's just because I'm tired," Raphael whispered as he rubbed his left eye for a moment. "That's all."

Leonardo sighed. This was going to be difficult. He placed the small candle on the nightstand next to Raphael's bed and took a look at his younger brother, who was still having a hard time being awake.

"I'm going to get you a cup of coffee, and then you're going to talk to me," Leonardo said.

"But I'm fine..."

Leonardo shook his head. Then he walked out the door and gently closed it behind him. He made eye contact with the rest of the family, who were sitting in the living room couch, looking at him.

"How did it go?" Donatello asked, as he took a sip of his coffee.

"He keeps saying that he's fine. Which is clearly a big lie," Leonardo responded as he took the coffeepot and poured the black liquid into a mug.

"Have patience, my son," Splinter said. He took his mug of green tea and took a mouthful before continuing. "Sooner or later Raphael will open up to you. You just need to give him time."

"I just wonder what happened between them, since Casey got so out of control," Donatello said, looking from Leonardo to Splinter. "He actually hit him. I don't think I've ever seen Casey _that_ angry."

"Well, you're good at talking with Raphael," Michelangelo said to Leonardo, as he leaned in over the coffee table to grab a cookie. He took a bite of it. "When you guys are not ripping of each other's heads, that is."

"I'll try not to do that then," Leonardo smiled, as he took the cup with coffee and walked to Raphael's room. He sat the mug of coffee down on nightstand. He took a quick look at his brother, who was slightly shivering.

"Are you cold?"

"It's... It's okay."

"Shut up, Raph," Leonardo commanded, as he took the red blanket at the end of the bed and placed it over Raphael.

"Now, will you stop being so stubborn and start telling me what is going on?" Leonardo asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at his younger brother. Raphael just looked back at him, silent.

"Why did Casey hit you?" Leonardo asked softly.

"I'm not sure I can tell you," Raphael said quietly.

"Raph, bro, I care about you. If something is wrong, I want to help you. No matter what is going on. But we've talked about this issue before, and we always end up with the same conclusion. That you need to let me in," Leonardo told him. Raphael leaned his head up against the wall again, still looking at his older brother.

"I don't want you to tell the others," he answered. "It's... it's kinda embarrassing."

"It'll stay between me and you."

Raphael sighed.

"I slept with April."

"You... you did what?" Leonardo said in confusion.

"Don't look at me like that… And it's not like I really wanted to. Shredder gave me an ultimatum."

"How?"

"He said that either he would rape April or I should sleep with her. And if we didn't do... you know, _it_ within an hour, then he would kill Casey."

Leonardo looked at Raphael with a concerned look. This, the whole sex-talk, wasn't a conversation he had had before. He didn't have any experience in that area, nor did Donatello or Michelangelo.

"You're being very quiet," Raphael commented.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just... you know, trying to wrap my brain around it," Leonardo apologized.

"That's what I have been doing for the past days."

"So... You were forced into having your first time with April?" Leonardo asked. Raphael frowned at him.

"What?"

"Isn't that what happened?" Leonardo asked gently.

"Yeah, Leo, that, uh… that wasn't my first time."

"Really?"

"I dated Mona Lisa for a long time, remember?"

"Oh..." Leonardo said in surprise. He blinked a few times. "Well, why is Casey so mad at _you_? It's not like you had a choice."

Raphael sighed again. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Like April said, I _did_ have a choice. It was all my decision."

"Technically not, Raph," Leonardo said, looking down at his hands. "An ultimatum is about the person behind it choosing for you. I understand why Casey is mad at you for sleeping with April. But he would have been equally as mad if Shredder had raped her, and you weren't able to stop it."

As he looked up again, he realized that Raphael had fallen asleep.

"Goodnight, bro," Leonardo whispered. Then he blew out the candle.


	4. The Dreams

Another punch was thrown against the punching bag. He threw the fists through the air, hitting it again. Time was not in his mind, he didn't know how long he had been doing this. The sound of heavy music ran through his earphones, as the sweat kept falling from his body.

"Raph!"

Finally the sound of his name got through to him. He took off the earphones and turned around, only to see his blue-banded brother standing there.

"I've been calling you. We're about to eat," Leonardo said. He stepped closer to his brother and put a hand on the punching bag to prevent it from going back and forth, as he quickly glanced at his younger brother. "Are you okay?"

"I guess," Raphael answered through the heavy breathing.

"Well, maybe the fact that you've been so active will get you sleeping tonight," Leonardo responded and smiled lightly. Raphael shook his head, before walking out of the dojo.

"Whatever."

* * *

 _The sound of thunder ran through the thick air. It could pour down any minute. They ran over the rooftops together. They were going faster and faster. Together they were a great team. That's what it felt like._

 _At the edge of one of the rooftops he stopped. The oldest brother turned his head to look at him, as lightning struck over the night sky._

" _Raph, come on!" Leonardo yelled. The two youngest brothers stopped, as the leader walked closer to the red-banded turtle. "What is it?"_

" _... Something's wrong."_ _With no warning he jumped from the rooftop, landing on the ground in the alley below._

" _What is he doing?" Donatello asked, as they all looked down to the street, the light of streetlamps slightly lighting up their faces. Raphael disappeared into the darkness of one of the corners of the alley. Within a few seconds they heard him scream._

" _Raph!" The three brothers jumped down in the alley. They stepped closer to the dark corner, where Raphael had disappeared. What they met was a warm shock trembling through their bodies. Raphael was covered in blood and he was holding tightly onto something. He kept moving his body back and forth, as he looked at them with absolute terror in his watery eyes. The rain began falling, as his scream rang through the night._

" _Look what he did to her!"_

* * *

He shouted, as his eyes opened quickly. He sat up, as he breathed heavily for air. The sweat was dripping from his forehead, as he tried to erase what he had just dreamt from his mind. But the vision was still everywhere before his eyes.

"Raph?" Leonardo, who had heard his scream from his room, had quickly rushed to his side. That's when Raphael realized that he had fallen asleep on the couch.

"Why am I not in my room?" Raphael panted.

"You wanted to sleep in here for a change," Leonardo responded, as he turned on the lamp next to the couch. "I think you hoped it would prevent you from having a nightmare again."

Raphael sighed. Leonardo sat down on the couch next to his brother.

"What was it about?"

"It was the same type of dream..."

"What happened?"

"It was about her."

Raphael leaned his head in his hands.

"I dreamt that I found her dead in an alley... I saw the whole thing from your point of view. And I was all covered in her blood... It was… _way_ too realistic."

Leonardo drew his arms around Raphael, who for once didn't mind being in the older brother's embrace. He could gradually feel the beating in Raphael's chest slow down.

"Why do you think you keep losing April in your dreams?" Leonardo whispered. Raphael leaned his head on Leonardo's shoulder, as he started to realize why the nightmares had begun; and why they had been there for weeks.

"… Because it's already happening in real life."

* * *

He stood on one side of door, not knowing whether or not to knock. This wouldn't be easy; he knew that even when he'd decided to show up on this particular doorstep. But the situation in the lair couldn't continue, and he knew, that right now he was the only one who could do something. He did what he had come there for, and soon footsteps were heard on the other side of the door.

"Leo?" April seemed surprised. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

A slight shock went through his body as he entered the apartment. Everything was a mess. Empty pizza trays and soda cans were spread across the apartment, and it looked like the place hadn't been cleaned for weeks. This wasn't like April nor Casey for that matter.

"Please, take a seat," April said and pointed to the couch. They both sat down.

"Is Casey here?" Leonardo asked, as he looked around the apartment.

"No. He's out. He has been out most of the time since… you know…" Her voice trailed off.

"How are you?"

"Not well," she whispered. "I feel so guilty." There was a short pause. "You are aware of what happened, aren't you?"

"Yes. Raphael told me. But none of the others know; at least not yet."

April sighed.

"I feel horrible. First I sleep with Raphael and cheat on Casey at the same time. And then I don't even have the courage to talk to Raphael." She rubbed her forehead, as she closed her eyes for at moment. "I'm not even sure, if that was his first time or not… we were forced into all of this. Shredder got what he wanted… I've ruined everything."

"April…" Leonardo began. "I don't know whether or not Raph would like me to tell you… But it wasn't his first time.. you know, being with you." April opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Yeah, at first I thought the same thing," Leonardo continued. "But when they dated, he and Mona Lisa did more than just kiss."

"I guess that is good news," April answered.

"But that's not why I'm here," Leonardo continued as he took April's hand. "My brother has not been himself since then. It's clear to everyone in our family that something's wrong with him. He keeps having dreams about losing _you_ and the themes in these dreams gets darker night by night. And as you know, he's usually hot-tempered and very outgoing, but as of lately he hardly speaks. Even Mikey has given up trying to make him smile. It's come to a point where I can't even recognize Raph anymore."

Leonardo sighed.

"April, I am very worried," he continued. "And this is a total gamble, but I think it would help him if he could talk to you and Casey. He misses both of you."

It was silent between them for a moment.

"I'm not sure that will help him, Leo."

Leonardo frowned at her. April continued:

"I was the one who ruined everything. It's my fault. Not his."

"It was Shredder who ruined everything," Leonardo comforted her. "The problem is that Raphael doesn't know that. You know how he is. Splinter always says that Raph puts all problems on his shoulders, even the ones that aren't his own. And he risked everything for you. Even his friendship with Casey, just to make sure that you wouldn't get hurt. So why can't it help?"

"… You're right. I'm sorry. I will go talk to him. I'm just not sure how to convince Casey to talk to Raph."

Leonardo still held tightly on to her hand.

"If Casey's upset about this, then he cares. Please… just try?"


	5. The Fight

Final chapter! There is a lot of swearing in this one - I have warned you now! I hope you will like this chapter, and thank you to everyone who have been reading and following this story! :)

* * *

"I can't believe you convinced me to come here," Casey said as he and April entered the turtles' lair through the main door. As he looked around, he suddenly realized how long it had been since the last time he had been in the lair. A part of him had missed it, yet another part of him now wanted to run away more than ever.

"We have to figure this out, Casey. And the only way to do that is to talk to Raph." April turned around and faced him. "He's your best friend."

"He was."

"No, he _still_ is. Otherwise you wouldn't be so upset!"

"Hey." The sound of a calming, greeting voice made April turn her head. Leonardo was standing only a few feet away from them with a mug, the steam was rising from the tea inside it. He was smiling warmly at them. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Where is everyone else?" Casey asked, looking around the living room.

"Mikey is out getting pizza, and I convinced Donnie to go with him. And when I told Splinter you guys would come here to talk to Raphael, he spontaneously said that he would go for a walk." Leonardo smiled, blinked with one eye and then placed his mug on the coffee table nearby. He sat down in the chair next to it. "So it's just me and Raph."

"Does Raphael even know that we're here?" April asked, as she and Casey sat down in the couch in front of Leonardo.

"No. Not yet. I had a feeling that he would go out, if he knew you guys were coming. So I took a chance, and it's going to be a surprise for him."

Silence occurred for a moment.

"Are you ready? Because then I will go get him," Leonardo asked the couple, who looked at each other for a few seconds. Casey nodded.

"We're ready," April replied.

* * *

Leonardo opened the door to Raphael's room. His brother was sitting on his bed with rock music in his headphones. His eyes were shut.

"Raph?" Leonardo walked towards Raphael, and gently placed a hand on his younger brothers' shoulder. Raphael opened his eyes and took off the headphones.

"What?"

"There's someone here to see you."

Raphael sent him a puzzled look.

"Who?"

"You'll find out. C'mon."

Raphael sighed annoyed, placed the headphones on his nightstand and followed Leonardo out into the living room. He stopped, when he realized who was sitting in the couch.

"What…?"

Leonardo turned around to look at him.

"You guys need to talk this out."

"It was supposed to stay between me and you…" The older brother could feel the anger trembling beneath Raphael's voice.

"Raph…"

"You told me, that it would stay between me and you. What the hell, Leo?!" he yelled angrily. He began walking towards the main door, but Leonardo ended up in front of him, blocking his way out.

"Raph, you need to stay here. You need to talk to them!"

"No freaking way!"

"Oh, so you're going to run away from all of this? Isn't that what you always do?" Casey said, as he stood up from the couch, arms crossed as he looked at the red banded turtle. Raphael turned around, looking fiercely at Casey.

"Who the hell are you to tell me if I run away from my problems?" He walked closer to the sofa area. "You're no saint yourself! I haven't heard from you in over a month now!"

"The feeling of betrayal is mutual, Raph!" Casey replied coldly.

"I did it to protect you!"

"Are you fucking serious? Last time I checked you slept with my girlfriend!"

"You're missing the point, Casey!"

"Oh, really? Then enlighten me, Raph! What point am I missing?"

"I wasn't just given one ultimatum that night! I was given three!"

"And that makes it okay?"

"Of course it doesn't!"

"Then what the hell are you talking about?" Casey spat out.

"Shredder said that either he would rape April or that I should be with her. _Then_ he forced me to choose quickly. If I didn't choose, he would torture you. You were there, you freaking heard it!"

"Your point is what?"

"That when we were dragged into the room, where I was supposed to sleep with April, Shredder said that he would kill you, if we and I quote him: _Hadn't completed the task within an hour_."

"Is that your excuse?"

"Casey!" April snapped at him angrily. "Hear him out!"

"Why should I?"

"'Cause it's not an excuse, Casey! It's the truth!" Raphael yelled, stepping closer to his friend. He had not yet realized that besides Leonardo, who was frozen in shock in the doorway, his remaining brothers had entered the lair, being alarmed by the screams. "I was held at knifepoint, April was threatened to get raped and you could have died! And Shredder forced me into all of these choices like a fucking puppeteer, and even when I tried to do the right thing, you're all blaming me! How the _fuck_ would you feel?!" Raphael sighed angrily, burying his face in his hands, standing like that for a moment. He then looked at both Casey and April again. A shock overwhelmed them. The glassy appearance of his eyes quickly told them that their friend was on the edge between sanity and breaking down completely. Leonardo, who had finally pulled himself together from the shock of the fight, walked up behind Raphael and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's sit down."

For once he did as his older brother told him. And they all sat down, including the newly arrived family members. Michelangelo placed the pizza on the coffee table in the centre of the sofa area. Surprisingly he didn't take a slice.

"I had no idea that…" Casey began. His voice trailed off. Silence occurred again. He then tried to open the conversation. "I didn't know that he wanted to kill me."

"He did," Raphael responded with a hoarse voice.

"You know what is weird about this, Casey?" April asked, frowning. She turned her face towards him. "You've been so busy making Raphael the bad guy in this. I was as much a part of it as he was. I _cheated_ on you. Why aren't you mad at me?"

"I am mad at you," Casey tried to reassure her.

"Well, you surely aren't acting like it."

"You were forced into it, babe."

"And Raphael wasn't?"

Casey looked at her for a moment, then his eyes met the floor.

"Well, then why do I feel so betrayed?"

"By Raphael?"

"Yes!"

"Because you were betrayed," Raphael commented so darkly, it made Casey look at him. "But I was too. And so was April. I just wish it wasn't necessary to begin with."

"That's what force is all about," April said quietly.

Leonardo looked at them for a moment, confused.

"Wait, back up. You were forced. But who else was in the building besides you guys and Shredder?"

"There were foot soldiers everywhere. They held us captive. And they held Raphael and Casey down, when Shredder pulled me away from them," April replied. She looked at Raphael. "That's when he threatened to rape me."

"Uh… There was no one else in the building, when we went to get you guys out of there. And it wasn't hard to get in. All the electronic locks were opened," Donatello said, as he finally forced himself to speak. "Well, except for the one door to the room, you two were in. I had to use a special code for that one."

Michelangelo nodded in agreement. He took a slice of pizza from the tray.

"It was way too quiet. We could literally just walk in!" he said. "I tested if anyone was there, when I tried to beat box. No one heard me. And no one told me to shut up."

"Actually I did," Donatello commented, sending the youngest brother the first smile exchanged in this situation.

They all looked at each other for a moment.

"This is exactly what Shredder wanted," Leonardo said. He picked up his mug and took a sip. The tea was cold now. He placed the mug on the coffee table again, as he sighed. "Shredder wanted you all to fight like this. He wanted to destroy us from the inside."

"We were set up," Casey whispered. He looked at Raphael, who had his head in his hands. He then spoke out, what they were all thinking:

"And we fell for it."

* * *

The three of them had been sitting in April and Casey's apartment, playing video games and drinking a couple of beers. For the first time in two months they had laughed together. A lot. Their relationship felt good again, yet different. Whether or not that was a good thing only time would tell.

When it became midnight Raphael had to leave. They all had a mission the next day that they could not miss. It was time to make amends of what their unit, as Shredder called it, had suffered from. Raphael pulled on his trench coat and hat.

"Later, Casey," he said, as he walked from the living room into the entry.

"See you, Raph." Casey smiled lightly and began carrying the empty beer bottles out in the kitchen.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow, Raphael," April said, as they stood together just to the two of them in the doorway. "Let's hope he get what he deserves!"

"Yeah…" He smiled at her.

She pulled him into a hug. For the first time in two months they actually touched each other. He could still recognize the way her hair smelled. It was hard for him to forget since they had been trapped in that room together in the grey stone building.

Maybe he did hold onto her a moment longer, than he probably should.

But he cared about her. And he always had.


End file.
